Siberian Huskies For Dummies
Page 24
“Whoa!”: Stop! (More horse lingo.)
Mushing equipment
The sport of sled dog racing is not an inexpensive one. Here’s a list of the basic equipment mushers need:
Sled: Either a basket or toboggan type of sled will work. The former is better for beginners. Expect to spend $300 to $1,000 for a good sled. You can even get a fold-up sled for easy storage. These fold-up vehicles have no brake. You can also buy a cart; some carts can be used with or without snow.
X-back harness: The x-back harness is just the traditional sled-pulling harness. You’ll spend $15 to $20 for a good harness.
Gangline or towline: The long rope that runs down the middle of the dog team. Tuglines are attached to it. A gangline or towline costs $10 to $15.
Sled bag: At $25 to $30, a sled bag is not absolutely necessary to buy, especially for beginners. It’s designed to carry gear.
Snow hook: A kind of emergency brake, a snow hook is used like an anchor in the snow and costs about $10.
Booties: These are worn by Huskies to keep their feet protected from ice or slush. They run about $1.50 each, unless you buy them in bulk, which you may want to do, because they do wear out and get lost.
Snubline: A rope that attaches the sled to a tree or post while resting.
Getting a Sled Dog
If you are seriously interested in sled dogging, you should purchase a dog from a kennel specializing in breeding Siberians for sledding. But even this is a gamble, because kennels try to keep the best stock for themselves in order to improve their line. (The true qualities of a sled dog may not show up until he is about 18 months old.)
Still, sometimes kennels can be overstocked with males and may be able to sell you a very good sledding prospect. Even without a specially bred sled dog, however, you can still enjoy this exciting hobby. Most Huskies can happily learn to pull a sled.
A sledding or racing Siberian often looks a little different from his conformation counterpart. He is usually a bit rangier, with longer legs, and perhaps bigger feet. Many of the working or racing Siberians do not possess the classic close-set, inward-pointing ears of the conformation dog.
In addition to physical prowess, mushers look for several key mental elements in a good mushing dog: attitude, a good work ethic, trainability, and a desire to please.
Sledding for Fun
It’s said that a dog comes by mushing ability half through heredity and half by training. But if your object is just to have fun rather than to race competitively, it’s important to note that almost any Husky can be trained to pull a sled. You don’t need to worry about getting a high-quality racing dog. (This is a good thing, because a premium trained racing dog can cost upwards of $5,000, if you can find one at all.)
If you’re not sure whether you would like sledding, many organizations offer sled dog tours; you can get a package deal, which includes a sled, a team, and a guide.
If possible, find a mentor to help you get started. This can be as simple as contacting your local Siberian Husky Club or Sled Dog Club, and asking if someone will allow you to train with them. Most mushers are friendly and helpful people and will be glad to lend a helping hand to a neophyte.
You can teach your Husky to wear a pulling harness when he’s about 5 months old, although some racing experts start earlier, using a soft harness designed to be attached to a small log. It’s very important that your Husky learn to pull when wearing a harness and to heel when wearing a collar. Your job is to make sure he gets the connection. Stay behind the dog when teaching him to pull — don’t lead him or walk along next to him. Start on a well-marked path — that will get him used to the idea of walking on a trail.
Serious training begins when the dog is about 1 year old, usually in the fall during cool weather. Most people try to place the pup in an established, harmonious team of dogs, so he can learn from example how to behave properly. Sled dogs must learn to get along with one another! The puppy’s first jobs are to learn how to pay attention to his pulling, stay on the trail, socialize with the team, and listen to the musher (that’s you). Start with short runs and gradually increase the length of your trips as your dog builds up his muscle and strength. (Fully grown racing dogs train from 10 to 90 miles every other day during racing season.)
Siberian Huskies actually run best when the temperature is 15 or 20 degrees below zero, so get out your mukluks!
Chapter 17
The Last Great Race: The Iditarod
In This Chapter
Understanding the history of the Iditarod
Seeing where the Iditarod is today
For most of us, the name Husky is synonymous with sled dog, and sled dog means Iditarod. The Iditarod is much more than a sporting event, however. It’s a final test of stamina, loyalty, and courage. It’s a commemoration of the Great Serum Run. And it’s a glorious celebration of the great sport of sled dog racing. The Iditarod is also one of the few sporting events in which men and women compete equally.
The Start of the Iditarod
The 1,000-mile race we call the Iditarod was first run in 1973, the brain child of Dorothy G. Page, a native of Wasilla, Alaska. Page was worried by the fact that since snowmobiles had been invented, no one seemed to remember the Great Serum Run or any other feats of the famous sled dogs of the past.
She approached Joe Redington, and together they organized the first Iditarod Trail Race in 1967. It wasn’t much compared to the Iditarod today — only 27 miles long. This sprint was run again in 1969.
The Pages and Redingtons raised money for the event by donating an acre of land and selling square-foot “lots” with official certificates. They actually managed to scare up $10,000 by this scheme, and eventually the purse swelled to $25,000. Today, the Iditarod is worth $550,000. Considering that it costs about $10,000 to run the race, this doesn’t seem like a lot of money. There are also smaller prizes given out to the first mushers to reach certain points, awards for the best sled dog (the Golden Harness Award), and a Sportsmanship Prize.
That first year, mushers from all over Alaska (and two from Massachusetts) entered. The race was won by Isaac Okleasik, and the Iditarod was born.
Naturally, the Pages and Redingtons weren’t going to be satisfied with a mere 27-mile dash; they had their eyes on bigger things. Unexpectedly, they got some help from the United States Army, which decided, for reasons of its own, to open the sled trail all the way to Nome in 1973, thus following the old Gold Trail from Anchorage to Nome.
The Iditarod Today
Today, the Iditarod begins in Anchorage on the first Saturday in March. Usually between 50 and 80 teams compete, although few have any chance of winning. For most, it’s enough of an honor even to finish the famous race. In 2000, a record number of 81 drivers did so.
The Iditarod has seen mushers from Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Great Britain, Russia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, and even Australia.
Not everyone with a sled and a bunch of dogs is eligible to run the Iditarod. First, there is an entry fee of $1,750 (the entry fee originally was $1,049, a dollar for every mile run). Then, only mushers with a proven track record can qualify; this includes those who have finished the Iditarod previously, or those who have completed at least two approved races within the previous two years. An approved race is a continuous run of at least 500 miles.
Each team is required to have between 12 and 16 dogs, 5 of which must be hitched to the gangline at the finish in Nome. Over the years, teams have become larger. With a big team, the musher can be 80 feet from the lead dog; that means a lot of yelling. Many Iditarod drivers use two lead dogs, but it’s not unusual for someone to run the race with just one.
The race begins in downtown Anchorage. Most years, over 1,000 dogs compete for the prize. The contestants then run 8 or 10 miles to Eagle River. This is a chance for mushers to check out their dogs and equipment. A number of joy riders or Iditariders go along for this first leg. This is purely a cer
emonial start. It doesn’t count for overall time, and after the dogs get to the VFW Post in Eagle River, they’re all loaded up in trucks and sent home for the night.
You can actually win a trip aboard a dog sled for the first leg of the Iditarod, thus becoming an Iditarider. The race uses auctioned bids to help support the teams. In fact, everyone who finishes the race (after the top 20, who get larger cash prizes) receives $1,049 for his efforts — a dollar for every mile run.
After the symbolic start in Anchorage, there’s a restart in the Matanuska Valley at the old Wasilla Airport, about 40 miles north of Anchorage. After the mushers reach the checkpoint at Knik, they say goodbye to roads for the rest of the race. Between 9 and 12 days later, depending on weather conditions, the first of the mushers will reach Nome.
The slowest winning time was in 1974, when it took Carl Huntington well over 20 days to make the trek; the fastest time is owned by Doug Swingley, who finished in 9 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes, and 19 seconds in 1995. Swingley, from Montana, is the only non-Alaskan so far to win the race. He won the race again in 1999. Winners include members of both sexes, and all of them come from places with names like Red Devil, Knik, Trapper Creek, and Clam Gulch. So if you live in Dayton, I wouldn’t count on winning the Iditarod anytime soon.
Mushers have to pass through 26 checkpoints between Anchorage and Nome. Food, straw (for dog bedding), and supplies for both dogs and racers are flown in by bush pilots (the so-called Iditarod Air Force), but mushers have to carry their own survival gear. The Iditarod organizers ship in as much as 200,000 pounds of food, provided by the mushers themselves, for the race.
The officially mandated gear includes a proper cold-weather sleeping bag, an ax, snowshoes, an operational cooker and pot, a veterinarian notebook, and two sets of dog booties per dog. (Over 2,009 booties are used in the average Iditarod.) Mushers also carry a harness repair kit, extra mittens, and emergency food for themselves and their dogs.
It is illegal to use most kinds of drugs on Iditarod dogs: anabolic steroids, analgesics, antihistamines, anti-inflammatory drugs, cough suppressants, and more are all forbidden. Some exceptions are made for topical ointments to be applied directly to the feet. Dogs are subject to urine and blood sampling at any point on the race.
About six hours ahead of the dog teams are the trailbreakers, who use special snow-machines to break the trail and carry supplies.
If you’d like to participate in the Iditarod yourself, you’re more than welcome, even if you’ve never seen a dog sled. The Iditarod Trail Committee needs thousands of volunteers every year — veterinarians, trail breakers, logistic personnel, publicity people, fundraisers, people to staff the checkpoints and information centers, and so on.
Mushers are required to take a mandatory 24-hour stop during the race, at any time “most beneficial to the dogs.” The checker at the rest point must be notified that the musher is taking his rest stop. In addition to the 24-hour stop, a musher must also take one eight-hour stop on the Yukon and one eight-hour stop at White Mountain.
Each checkpoint staff includes veterinarians. Veterinary checks are mandatory, and any tired or ill animals must be left behind. (The humans, however, are free to continue no matter how sick they are.) There are usually three vets per checkpoint, and the chief veterinarian has the authority to require that a tired or ill animal be dropped from the race. A dropped dog is permanently removed from the race and may not be replaced by another one. This rule, of course, is designed to prevent anyone from getting the idea that he can run his dogs till they drop and just replace them as they fall. Any driver who is cruel or abusive to his animals will be disqualified. Dropped dogs are shipped back to Anchorage, to the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, where attentive and responsible inmates care for the animals until they can be returned to their owners. This plan works as a healing therapy for both prisoners and the dogs. Dangerously ill or injured dogs are sent by medevac to an emergency veterinary clinic.
Some mushers begin the race with more dogs than they plan to finish with; younger dogs in particular are often run only for the first part of the race.
The welfare of the dogs is a primary Iditarod concern; of the 57 “rules of the race,” 26 apply directly to animal care. Animal care shelters are also provided along the trail.
A 50-pound Husky will consume over 5,000 calories per day during the Iditarod! Nearly all of the calories come from meat — fish, beef, caribou, and moose are favorites.
For several years in the early 1990s, someone named John Suter entered the Iditarod with a team largely composed of poodles. Of course, they didn’t win, because poodles are singularly unsuited to running the Iditarod. (Their fur sticks to the snow, for one thing.) Still, rather surprisingly, Suter managed to finish the race three times. He went on a lot of talk shows afterwards. “There are five billion people in the world,” he would say, “and only one of them mushes the Iditarod with a team of poodles.” I suppose that is very true.
Iditarod dogs do not have to be Siberians or any purebred dog at all. Most, in fact, are Siberians mixed with other breeds by mushers hoping for just the right combination of speed and stamina for long-distance racing.
The first woman to win the Iditarod was Libby Riddles in 1985. She and her team plunged through a dangerous blizzard to victory. In that same year, favorite Susan Butcher lost most her team in an encounter with an enraged female moose. Moose sometimes stand in the middle of the mushing trail and attack the sledders. Two dogs were killed and another badly wounded; the distraught Butcher was of course forced to withdraw from the race. The next year, however, she went on to win — and repeated her victory three more times! One of those wins earned her the title of Woman Athlete of the Year.
Iditarod notables
Rick Swenson. From Two River, Alaska, Swenson has competed in 20 Iditarods and has always finished in the top ten. He’s won the race a record five times.
Dick Mackey. In 1978, Mackey beat Swenson in an incredible photofinish, unbelievable in a race of this length. Dick’s son, Rick, has also won the Iditarod. They both wore #13 on their winning rides. So far, they are the only father and son winners.
Norman Vaughan. Vaughn has finished the race four times, although he hasn’t won yet. He still has time — at age 88.
Libby Riddles. Riddles was the first woman to win the Iditarod, in 1985.
Susan Butcher. Butcher was the first woman to finish in the top ten. She has won four times.
Dr. Terry Adkins. Adkins was the only veterinarian to race in the first Iditarod. He has completed the race 20 times, a record matched only by Rick Swenson.
Joe Runyan. Runyan is the only musher to have won the Iditarod, the Alpirod (Europe’s version of the Iditarod), and the Yukon Quest (another Alaskan-Canadian race, and the Iditarod’s chief competitor).
Even the last-place finisher in the Iditarod does not go unnoticed. He or she wins the Red Lantern award. This award started as a joke but is now taken quite seriously. The Red Lantern is lit at 9:00 on the first Saturday in March in Nome, and placed at the Burl Arch, where the finish line is. It stays lit as long as anyone is still competing in the race. The Red Lantern Award is a symbol of courage, sportsmanship, and stick-to-it-iveness. In fact, there’s a Red Lantern Banquet for the late finishers.
Only the top finishers manage to complete the race in nine or ten days; it often goes on as long as two weeks. Mushers race during the night, as well as during the day; still, the dogs get between 12 and 14 hours of sleep per day, not necessarily all at once. The driver isn’t so lucky. While the dogs are sleeping, he is preparing their food, fixing the harnesses, and wondering why he got started in dog racing in the first place.
When the race is over, a gigantic all-city party is held in Nome, including basketball tournaments, dart games, and the Ice Golf Classic.
Part VI
The Part of Tens
In this part . . .
This wouldn’t be a book ...For Dummies without the Part
of Tens. If you don’t have much time, the chapters in this part are perfect for you. They provide lots of information in a small amount of space — everything from why you should own a Husky to how to raise the one you have. I also point out some common household hazards that Huskies can fall victim to and let you know how to travel with your Husky so that both of you are happy. In a rush? Read on!
Chapter 18
Ten Reasons to Have a Siberian Husky
In This Chapter
Figuring out what makes Siberians so special
Seeing whether you’re the right person for a Husky
If you’re not sure whether a Siberian Husky is the dog for you, in this chapter you’ll find ten great reasons to own one of these wonderful dogs.
Huskies Always Smile
That cheerful, devil-may-care look reveals something special about the Siberian Husky’s personality and his relationship to you. Huskies are good-natured and willing to please. Plus, they’re human-oriented, which means that they are happiest when they are with you. They look to you for companionship, guidance, and love. This is one of the qualities that makes them great pets — their very willingness to share their life with yours.
The Husky’s smile also reminds us that dogs need to be happy — and it doesn’t take a whole lot to keep them that way. Siberian Huskies don’t require expensive dog beds, high-priced toys, and expensive vacations to the Riviera. A comfortable pillow at your feet, a chew toy, and frequent trips to the great outdoors is a Husky’s idea of paradise.